François Désiré Bancel
From Philosopedia
Bancel, François Désiré (1822—1871)
A French politician elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1849, Bancel was educated at Touron and Grenoble, became a lawyer and then member of the Legislative Assembly in 1849. He was known as one of the most passionate critics of the royalists and clerics.
After Napoleon III expelled him in 1852, he moved to Brussels and taught at the Free University. A Deist, according to freethought historian Joseph McCabe, Bancel "gave great assistance in the Belgian Rationalist movement." Bancel was again elected to the legislature upon his return to France.
Bancel translated the works on rationalism by Ausonio Franchi. His own freethought views are found in his Les Harangues de l’Exit (3 volumes, 1863). Bancel wrote La Revue Critique.
